Tiny Balboa T-shirt shop folding up after 30 years

Family T's has been a mainstay on Balboa Island for decades, but the owner is getting close to closing.

Owner Howard Silver, center, assists Betty Malone of Monterey as she looks for T-shirts for her husband at Family T's on Balboa Island on Thursday in Newport Beach. After opening his doors 30 years ago, on Jan. 1, 1984, Silver plans to close his shop by the end of the year.
(KEVIN CHANG, Daily Pilot / July 17, 2014)

Among the boutique shops on Balboa Island's main drag, a small store called Family T's has long offered a tourist basic.

Like an overflowing closet, the tiny space has T-shirts and sweatshirts stamped with local identifiers — "Newport Beach" or "Balboa Island" — stacked from floor to ceiling. They are stuffed into shelves that line the walls and piled high on a counter in the store's center.

The plentiful inventory at 213 1/2 Marine Ave. has accumulated over 30 years, but in only a few months, the store's time will come to an end. The remnant of the island's beachy past is set to close at the end of the year. A sign displayed among even more merchandise in the window tells it all: "Come on in for great deals or to just say goodbye."

Though Family T's has been a constant, the area itself has been through changes. The store's owner, Howard Silver, noted its progression from beach bum beginnings to a place that now displays a more contemporary couture — Beverly Hills with a bay, as he put it.

Where there once were funky trinket stores, local art vendors and six or seven T-shirt shops, his store is now nestled among a string of higher-priced boutiques.

Silver is a self-described "dreamer" who is averse to change, and he sees Family T's as a "relic" — down to the carpet from 30 years ago.

"I'm not good with change. I've never been good with change," said the shop owner, who still uses a calculator to keep his books. "... Life goes too fast, and to have to keep adjusting to the modern world, it's just not for me."

Growing up in Los Angeles, Silver spent time each summer with his family in a rented home on the Balboa Peninsula.

It was a different place then, surrounded by open space.

"It was just like being in heaven," said Silver, 66.

Silver remembers the smell of suntan lotion, the feel of the sand and the fear upon seeing a large marlin hauled up near the Balboa Pavilion.

For $2, which today buys only a piece or two of candy, he could entertain himself for a whole day, buying lunch, renting a surfboard and perhaps playing a game of pinball.

"It's overpowering when you think back to those days," he said. "It's special. It's really special."

Silver became a part of the Newport Beach experience when he opened his store on Jan. 1, 1984, with $8,000. It was just down the street from a T-shirt shop that his brother started in 1979, the Balboa Island T-Shirt Co., and he eventually ran both spots, with help from his mom and his sister. His stepson and daughter also worked for him. A family friend works with him now.

Family T's name hinted not only at the Silver family ties, but also the TV show — "Family Ties" — that was popular at the time.

Over the years, Silver made it a point to keep his prices low while maintaining the best quality possible. His tees range from $11 to $25, while his sweatshirts run from $18 to $48.

The Irvine resident said he offers something for all customers — kids, adults and infants, "from 6 months to triple (XLs)."

He's become intimately aware of the trends in the T-shirt business. Lifeguard shirts have always been popular. When the TV series "The O.C." came out, international tourists wanted a shirt that had the abbreviation on it. Now, for the first time in shop history, he said, the California bear has been a highly coveted design.

The businessman has also met people from all over the country — Minnesotans are the best, he said — who come in looking for a memento by which to remember their experience.

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